Shinbun Saturday: Manga Faces Bans and Criticism

Earlier this week, a UN special envoy called for Japan to ban manga featuring sexualized images of children. The request comes after a new law criminalizing possession of child pornography came into effect this past summer. Under the law, manga containing pedophiliac content remains legal. While people urge Japan to tighten their child pornography laws, manga artists, publishers, and free-speech advocates remain resistant, claiming that it impinges on artistic freedom.

Kodansha announced that Princess Jellyfish mangaka Akiko Higashimura’s newest series, Himo Zairu, would not be appearing in the December issue. Higashimura herself further elaborated that the manga had received criticism that it looked down on men. Himo Zairu is about himo–unemployed men who aspire to become househusbands and live off the wealth of financially independent women who are too busy for domestic tasks like cooking and cleaning. I fail to see how this premise is any more deserving of criticism than all of the manga featuring loser guys surrounded by a harem of cute women, but maybe that’s just me.

Tokyo prison ban on explicit BL manga draws ire

Officials at a Tokyo prison have been accused of discrimination after they refused an inmate access to manga containing explicit homosexual content. The officials claimed the materials would lead to problems maintaining order and discipline. However, it’s worth noting that they didn’t reject similar requests for manga containing depictions of explicit heterosexual intercourse.

Comiket comes head to head with the Summer Olympics

Looks like trouble is brewing for Comiket. The 2020 Summer Olympics will be held in Tokyo, and it’s been recently announced that portions of it would be hosted at the Tokyo Big Sight convention center. Why is this a big deal? Because Comiket, the world’s largest doujinshi fair, is held there during the summer months too. No word yet on what the Comiket organizers plan to do, but there’s no doubt the event will be affected.